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Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthday celebration at Kopan Monastery, December 3, 2020. Lama Zopa Rinpoche with Khadro-la and Serkong Dorje Chang seated on either side of him. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Students and friends around the world celebrated Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s seventy-fifth birthday on December 3, 2020, while Rinpoche was at Kopan Monastery in Nepal, where a day of traditional and auspicious activities were offered. Khadro-la spent the day on the premises for all of the festivities and the afternoon was attended by Luboom Rinpoche and Serkong Dorje Chang.
We are delighted to offer you some precious video footage from the birthday celebration.
Watch Rinpoche in the video “How to Cut a Birthday Cake with Bodhichitta Mind”:
https://youtu.be/q3PpsFvDdCs
Kopan monks drew this on the chalkboard. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
At the beginning of this video, Rinpoche explains that he doesn’t view his birthday as precious or hang onto it strongly. In fact, almost all of his life was spent without celebrating a birthday at all until the date of his birth was uncovered by a biographer. Rinpoche explains, the best way to think is “Whatever day, whatever hour—I make my life meaningful with renunciation and especially with bodhichitta—then, that’s my birthday!” During those times, your mind is very happy, and not superficial, hallucinated samsara happiness, concerned with only the pleasures of this life, but happiness in your heart. “The past is finished,” Rinpoche says. “You can’t go back in time, but what you can do is purify negative karma. And now, on your birthday, from now and in the future, especially this year, you can think, ‘I will use myself in a beneficial way for sentient beings as much as possible, for a year, month, day, week, every hour, every minute—as much as possible.’ Then that makes sense.” Otherwise it’s just an empty celebration or even negative karma.
As Rinpoche cuts the birthday cake, he says to think that the knife is wisdom directly perceiving emptiness and the cake is the ego. Or, the knife is bodhichitta and the cake is the self-cherishing thought. Rinpoche explains that the wrong concept holding the I as real while it is existing only in mere name labeled by the mind—this is the root of oceans of suffering we experience in hell, as hungry ghosts, as animals, as human beings, as suras, and as asuras. You visualize the cake as that, and then, with your “wisdom sword”—you cut!
Next, we hear Rinpoche’s long life prayer composed by Khadro-la and sung by Bhutanese singers Nidup Dorji and Lhamo Drugpa.
Following Rinpoche’s long life prayer, Rinpoche introduces the crowd to some stuffed animals, which have important Dharma messages written on them. Rinpoche reads out these messages.
Photo of Dharma pig by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Pig: “I am the most happy one in the world, because my pig body has the most delicious meat and I want to offer the most delicious momos to all the sentient beings!”
Whale: “Even though I don’t have a physical ‘eye’ but I can see all phenomena of the past, present, and future, directly!”
Rabbit: “I know so many animals like to eat rabbit meat beside human beings. I want them all to bliss out by giving myself to them.”
Then, the video shows a drama and traditional dances offered by the Kopan monks.
Watch a video with scenes from the Sixteen Arhats Puja at Kopan Monastery:
https://youtu.be/l3gMrzkthKM
The next video shows various aspects of the Sixteen Arhats Puja, which was offered to Lama Zopa Rinpoche as part of the birthday celebrations on December 3.
The benefits of making offerings and prayers to the Sixteen Arhats are:
1. All the Victorious Ones (Buddhas) are pleased.
2. Anyone who correctly practices it will have no obstacles.
3. One will be able to abide in pure morality.
4. It increases one’s scriptural understanding and realization.
5. One will have perfect inner and outer conditions to practice Dharma.
6. One will not be overwhelmed by untimely death and will have a long life.
7. The community of Sangha will be increased.
8. The study and practice of the Tripitaka (Three Baskets) will increase.
Please join us in rejoicing in all of these virtuous activities done in honor of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthday, making this day most special and meaningful due to it being in service to others as Rinpoche advises.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche is the spiritual director of the Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation, and community service.
Watch the video series Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Teachings on Thought Transformation during the Time of COVID-19 and find links to videos in transcripts, MP3s, additional practice advice, and more:
https://fpmt.org/fpmt/announcements/resources-for-coronavirus-pandemic/advice-from-lama-zopa-rinpoche-for-coronavirus/